The walls of marine vehicles are thin. In particular, on a wooden boat the planking may be one and a quarter inches thick, on a fiberglass boat something less than half an inch thick, and on a steel yacht not more than three-sixteenths of an inch. A common cause of a serious leak in the hull of a ship is a faulty skin fitting or a collision with a large and heavy piece of timber, sandbars, submerged reefs, or a floating piece of deck cargo washed overboard from a ship. Yachts have been damaged and sunk by whales and they have been attacked and seriously holed by swordfish. The hulls of naval vessels have been damaged from collisions with floating or bottom moored mines. In general, a leak is likely to occur proximate to a ships forward quarter, near the water line of the ship.
Upon detecting a leak in the hull of his/her ship, there are many emergency measures that a sailor may take depending upon the material of the hull and the extent of a leak therein. Damage may be repaired from the inside with a patch of sheet lead or copper. Lead is better than copper for these purposes because it takes to the contour of the hull much more easily and on a wooden hull, requires nothing behind it but a thick layer of sealant. With a fiberglass hull, lead can be fastened in place with short self-tapping screws. Holes must first be drilled in the hull. With a steel hull, it may be possible to hammer the plates together or to shore the leak up from the inside using struts braced against the deck-head or a bulkhead. Furthermore, a strong mix of sand and cement will often stop leaks by pouring it into a roughly constructed box over the leak.
The known methods of shoring up a leak in the hull of a boat are extremely time consuming and require the sailor to stow tools and materials on board at all times.
It is therefore a primary object of the subject invention to provide a universal hull sealing device that may be installed quickly and with little effort so as to effectively stop the flow of water therethrough.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a universal hull sealing device adapted for use with wood, steel or fiberglass hulls.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a universal hull sealing devise adapted for use with hulls of any thickness.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a universal hull sealing devise which operates internally and externally from the hull so as to enable installation thereof without working against hydrostatic pressure.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide a universal hull sealing device which may be conveniently stowed.